Can't Breathe
by chocokat13
Summary: "He only wants to make the best of the night." "He had nothing to worry about tonight." "It's over now. Everybody will be fine.  He will be fine." The events of Prom but... with a few twists. From the Misfits' POV. ONESHOT.


**Sorry I haven't been updating anything lately! I've been so busy with school, and there's so much work. I promise I'll try to update soon! In the meantime, I hope this oneshot makes up for my lack of writing. Enjoy!**

_**2 Hours Before**_

_**Adam**_

He can feel the tenseness among the table.  
>His gaze shifts between his brother and the girls on either side of him. He would mock Drew if he didn't know how truly serious the situation was.<p>

Adam wasn't heartless. No, he wasn't Bianca's biggest fan, and after all the trouble she had caused his family, he still doesn't think very highly of her. However, considering how rough she had it and the fact that she was doing it all for his brother, Adam could spare a little pity for her.

Therefore, he doesn't comment much on what he sees and puts on a smile, laughing at his best friend's foolishness.

_**Eli**_

He only wants to make the best of the night.

Waiting tables doesn't seem so bad. It beat going to another therapy session.

Yes, he'll definitely have a much better time here.

Adam asks why he didn't just go to prom because it was his junior prom. Eli tells him it's because he wouldn't be able to find a date, which is partially true. However, it's more so the idea of _having _a date that he is opposed to. The last thing he wants is to have another situation like Imogen on his hands.

Seeing Drew sitting awkwardly with Katie and Bianca makes Eli even more sure that his choice to wait tables was the better one. He felt bad for poor Drew, caught up in all of this drama.

Eli was positive he was done with drama for, hopefully, a long while.

_**Clare**_

It's still hard for her to process the news.

Never would she have expected this to happen.

Not in a million years.

Her mother couldn't be getting married. No, she had just ended her marriage of twenty years - she couldn't possibly be ready to remarry.

Especially not to _his _dad.

Clare let out a groan at the reminder.

How were she and Jake supposed to have a relationship now that they were going to be siblings? The idea made Clare shudder along with the chill of the night air.

She would need to show up to prom eventually. She was assuming that Jake was still going, and she couldn't just stand him up.

Sighing, Clare slipped her heels back on her feet and resumed her trudge to the hotel.

_**1 Hour Before**_

_**Adam**_

He doesn't feel very comfortable approaching the table. Bianca is alone, and he doesn't want to intrude on her personal space.

He sucks in a breath and makes his way over to the table, avoiding looking at her.

But he can't help but glance at her as he is about to collect the dishes. He expects her to either be looking away - probably at Drew - or to glare back at him.

Which is why he is shocked when his eyes meet hers, and she's smiling a little at him.

Adam wants to say that she has the wrong guy, and that she couldn't possibly be thinking of doing anything with him, but she stands up slowly, her smile widening, and extends a hand.

Without really thinking, he takes it.

_**Eli **_

It makes him glow to see his friend so happy.

He can make out Adam and Bianca twirling around on the dance floor, and it makes him smile.

That was all he really needed from tonight.

The opportunity to smile.

_**Clare **_

It takes her a long time to get there but she's grateful for the fresh air. She enters the ballroom but at first doesn't look for Jake.

Adam had told her that he and Eli would be at prom, and she couldn't help but be curious as to who Eli would bring. Imogen, perhaps?

She knew she shouldn't be concerned about him. Eli and her had gone their separate ways, and she expected this to be pleasing.

But ever since she had found out about his condition, he was always in the back of her mind. She just couldn't shake her concern and worry for him.

Her eyes skim over Adam and Bianca dancing, and though the sight is surprising, it makes her happy.

She finds Eli standing by a pillar off to the side, dirty dishes in his hands. He's watching Adam and Bianca with a smile on his face, and a smile of her own curves on her lips.

She hadn't seen him smile that genuinely in a long while.

_**55 minutes before**_

_**Adam**_

Her apology means everything to him.

Though she doesn't apologize for everything exactly, he knows she means to.

_**Eli**_

He sees her talking with Jake.

He notices that she doesn't look happy.

She looks pretty, he makes a note of.

He can't help, what with being surrounded by dancing couples, but imagine if he and Clare had come to prom together.

It makes his heart ache to picture it.

_**Clare**_

Over. Just like that.

The relationship they had struggled to build up the past month - gone. All feelings had to be dropped.

He didn't even want to try. That was what bugged her most.

Hadn't they established that they loved each other? How were they supposed to forget that?

A nagging voice rang in the back of her head, reminding her that Eli had the words for Jake, and she had just assumed they were true.

Maybe it was because the words had come out of Eli's mouth.

_**15 minutes before**_

_**Adam**_

Bianca stopped dancing with him once the song ended, but he managed to keep her in their circle.

Eli was acting unlike himself, but it was a refreshing change.

They still had two more hours, and he couldn't imagine having enough energy to last all night.

But he didn't care.

He had nothing to worry about tonight.

_**Eli**_

He spies her sitting alone at a table.

He stops his fist pumping, slowing down to a halt. Casting Adam a meaningful glance, he leaves the group and walks over to her.

She looks up at him as he approaches, and her eyes are puffy and red. She's been crying.

He doesn't ask what's wrong - it's not his place to pry.

Instead he holds out a hand to her, gives a tentative smile, and says, "Come on."

_**Clare**_

She doesn't know what she's doing, but somehow she ended up in the middle of the dance floor. Eli is on one side of her, Adam on the other, and she's singing along to the song. Eli is dancing goofily, trying to make her smile.

To her surprise, it's working.

_**5 minutes before**_

_**Adam**_

Drew is yelling, and his stomach drops in dread.

Bianca is leaving them, and fear begins to settle in his stomach when he sees her walking over to a dark-hooded man.

He wants to cry for her to come back.

She doesn't deserve any of this.

_**Eli**_

"Adam!" he calls to his friend as the boy begins following Drew. He grabs onto the boy's arm and pulls him back.

He doesn't know who the hooded man is, but he can tell he is not someone good.

Clare comes up onto Eli's other side, confusion taking over her features.

Adam looks torn, wanting desperately to aid his brother in fighting off the man who is barely six feet away from them.

Eli takes a step forward, just incase Drew needs help.

Clare grabs onto his arm suddenly, and Eli wants to feel elated by this, but is too consumed with anxiousness to.

_**Clare**_

She's afraid for him.

Not Drew, the one who is currently ducking from a punch thrown by the hooded man, but for the boy she is clutching onto.

He is prepared to jump in, she can tell, but no, she won't let him.

She needs him to stay safe.

Her hold on his arm relaxes when the man falls to the ground, defeated.

It's over now.

Everybody will be fine.

He will be fine.

_**10 seconds before**_

_**Adam**_

He doesn't have enough time to react.

He doesn't even know what's happening.

All he hears are the yells, and he sees nothing before he is suddenly being pushed to the ground.

_**Eli**_

He notices before anybody else.

He sees the man rising to his feet again, something in hand, and he shouts at Drew to turn around. He sees where the gun is pointed, and he lets out a cry as a bang sounds. Drew is diving onto the ground, and there is nothing blocking Adam, him, and Clare from the gunman now.

In a split second, Eli brings out one hand and pushes Adam to the ground and uses the other arm to wrap around Clare and push her behind him.

He knows he doesn't have enough time to get down before he hears another bang, and then feels something strike his chest.

_**Clare**_

She wants to run but knows there's nowhere to go.

She manages to catch sight of the gun before she is suddenly moved behind Eli.

She wants to scream at him not to protect her.

He's vulnerable now.

Open to fire at.

He should be trying to save himself, not her.

But he's always cared more about her than himself, and she hates that about him.

Especially now when she hears the second gunshot, and Eli's legs buckle.

A shrill scream leaves Clare's lips.

_**1 minute after**_

_**Adam**_

Clare's scream makes chills run along his body.

She's fine. She has to be.

Right?

A thud sounds beside him, and his breathing stops.

He turns his head slowly, and the sight before him brings tears to his eyes.

Clare is kneeling down beside him, and Eli's head is in her lap, his body splayed out before them. His body is convulsing, and blood is pooling under his white dress shirt.

Adam crawls the little way over to his friends, sitting up.

His fingers ghost over his friend's body, and a wail of anguish escapes his throat.

_**Eli**_

Pain and darkness.

That is all he knows.

Somebody is crying.

People are screaming.

Someone's fingers are in his hair, running through it and shaking violently.

His eyes stare up but don't see.

But he manages to hear her angelic voice beg,

"Stay with me, please."

_**Clare**_

It's getting harder for her to breath.

A warm stickiness is soaking through the bottom of her dress, and she wants to throw up.

"Look at me, Eli," she pleads.

Her eyes search to capture his, but when they meet, his green eyes are empty. The eyes that had captured her soul time and time again couldn't see her.

Tears cloud her vision, and she chokes out through her sobs, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

_**5 minutes after**_

_**Adam**_

Katie had ripped open Eli's shirt and was hovering over him, her eyes wide. Drew passes her a clothe napkin, and Adam catches sight of the wound before the napkin is pressed to it.

Eli's body jerks, and he lets out a piercing cry that makes Adam cringe.

The wail of an ambulance sounds outside.

Adam prays that they will save his best friend in time.

_**Eli**_

He can't control anything.

He's lost all of his senses.

All he feels is pain.

Pain, pain, and more pain.

And then the darkness washes over him.

_**Clare **_

"He's not breathing."

The words from Katie's mouth are barely a whisper.

Clare doesn't want to believe the words as the paramedics storm into the room with a stretcher. They lift Eli off of her lap and onto the stretcher, and the group around Eli scrambles to get up. Drew and Katie run off into the night, but she could care less.

A brace is being put around Eli's neck as one paramedic feels for a pulse.

"There's a small pulse, but he's not breathing," the man announces.

The other paramedics heave Eli up, turning him onto his side and searching for the exit wound. When none is found, a paramedic takes a board and shoves it underneath Eli, and then he is placed back down. Talking fast to each other, they race to wheel Eli out of the room. After a minute, the wail of the ambulance sounds again and begins to fade into the distance.

Clare collapses into Adam's arms.

_**4 hours after**_

_**Adam**_

He's been watching Bullfrog pace around the room for a long time now. The man is grumbling words he can't make out, but he is too tired to make sense of it anyway.

Adam had been given the task of contacting Fiona at rehab. Though he was still uneasy about speaking to her, Clare hadn't been able to talk at the moment.

It hurt him to listen to Fiona's sobs. He listened to her complaints about not being there, and she told him she desperately wanted to be there for Eli.

And for him.

It was the second meaningful apology Adam had gotten that night.

He told her that he wanted her to be here too.

_**Eli**_

Sudden brightness among the darkness.

Is this heaven? Is there a heaven for Atheists?

_**Clare**_

Her head rests in CeCe's lap. She's finally stopped crying and has become quiet other than giving an occasional sniff. CeCe's fingers run soothingly through her curls, and she doesn't understand why the woman is being so nice to her.

She did break her son's heart, after all.

"What's taking so damn long?" Bullfrog suddenly booms, and he kicks one of the chairs in the waiting room. The secretary looks up sharply, and she seems like she wants him to leave.

"Bullfrog," CeCe calls to him.

The weariness and strain in her voice makes Bullfrog calm down, and he falls into the chair beside Adam, drained and his face falling.

All of them are imagining the worst, and the longer they are kept waiting, the more the dread sets in.

Suddenly a door opens, and the group looks up at the doctor in the doorway. His face is expressionless, giving away nothing, and his mouth opens slowly.

Clare doesn't realize that she is holding her breath.

_**4 hours and 30 minutes after**_

_**Adam**_

Never had three words meant so much to him.

It took him a moment to process the words, but once they finally hit him, he wanted to break down and cry.

"He made it."

_**Eli**_

Everything hurts.

His body is completely sore, everything aches, and his mind is trapped in a fog. He longs for the darkness to come back to him. Though scary, it was reassuring and warm. There were no thoughts or feelings there.

He wants to rip the tube in his nose out. It's uncomfortable.

He slowly reaches for the tube, wincing in pain as his fingers close around it.

"Don't," a voice warns him.

Eli looks up at the doorway to see his parents watching him.

His father smirks. "Or you'll be traveling on the road to death again."

Eli returns the smirk. "Who says I wouldn't prefer that?"

_**Clare**_

She and Adam had spent the past few minutes crying in relief, arms holding each other. Neither of them had been able to speak through their tears.

They had allowed CeCe and Bullfrog to see him first - after all, they were his parents.

By the time they had settled down, CeCe and Bullfrog had returned and were looking much more at ease.

"He wants to see you," CeCe tells her.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Adam scoffs, but a grin is spreading across his face.

Clare's face flushes at the look on Adam's face, and he winks at her.

Clare swallows and makes her way to his room. She opens the door slowly and pokes her head in.

Eli's face lights up when he sees her, and it gives Clare the courage to go in and face him.

"You know," Eli comments as she approaches him, "the last time we were in a hospital, you broke up with me."

Clare ducks her head down in shame, tears pricking in her eyes as she avoids looking at him. "I'm sorry," she says hoarsely.

"I know," Eli says warmly. Clare glances up to see him watching her almost affectionately.

Memories flashed across her vision, like déjà vu, but instead of being scared of him, this time butterflies erupted in her stomach.

"Jake and I broke up," Clare announces quietly.

Eli blinks at her in surprise. "I'm sorry to hear that. I take it that's why you were upset earlier?"

Clare nods a little, pausing and staying quiet for a moment. "Thank you," she whispers. "For saving my life."

"It's in my job description," he says with a smirk, and Clare gives him a confused look. "You're supposed to protect the people you love, aren't you?" Eli asks simply.

Clare's breath catches in her throat. Now comes the part where she pushes him away, tells him she can't do this, and leaves.

And then she regrets it for every second of her life.

"I love you too," she chokes out, and the smile that breaks across his face makes her want to cry again.

She hesitantly leans down to press her lips to his forehead, but suddenly she feels him cup her chin, and then her face is being pulled down to his.

The feeling of his soft lips on hers makes her emit a gasp, and a shock courses through her body. The kiss is careful and sweet, something Clare is not used to from Eli.

He's readying to pull back when Clare is suddenly trying to give more, tilting her head and deepening the kiss. Eli tries to respond as forcefully with just as much fervor, but for once, he finds that he can't.

The heart monitor starts beeping loudly, and Clare pulls away with a laugh. Eli smiles at her breathlessly before he begins to laugh too.

_**4 hours and 45 minutes later**_

_**Adam**_

He's not sure if he should be worried or excited.

He was expecting Clare to be out by now.

Getting up, he walks to Eli's room in a bit of a hurried pace, and he stops outside of it. Peering in through the window, he looks away in embarrassment when his eyes fall on his friends' intimate moment.

Laughter reaches his ears, and Adam figures it's safe to go in now.

"You know," he says loudly as he opens the door and steps in, "on a normal day, I would groan and be disgusted by you guys, but for once, seeing you two swapping spit makes me so freaking happy."

"Shut up, Adam!" Clare responds, a blush rising on her cheeks.

Eli's laughter picks up again, and then Adam is laughing along with him. After a minute, Clare joins in.

_**Eli**_

Happy.

He is finally, truly happy.


End file.
